The house fly, Musca domestica Linnaeus, is a well-known pest of both farm and home. This species is commonly found in association with humans or activities of humans, and is one of the most common species found on hog and poultry farms, horse stables, and ranches. In addition to being a nuisance, the fly can transport disease-causing microorganisms. Moreover, excessive fly populations are obnoxious to farm workers.
Besides being a nuisance, the fly is a prime carrier of disease. Various pathogens associated with the house fly can cause disease in humans and animals, including typhoid, cholera, dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax ophthalmia and infantile diarrhea, as well as parasitic worms. Pathogenic microorganisms are picked up by flies from garbage, sewage and other sources of filth, and then transferred on their mouth parts and other body parts, through their vomitus, feces and contaminated external body parts to human and animal food.
The flies are inactive at night, with ceilings, beams and overhead wires within buildings, trees, and shrubs, various kinds of outdoor wires, and grasses reported as overnight resting sites. In poultry farms, the outdoor aggregations of flies at night are found in various protected sites, whereas almost all of the indoor populations are generally aggregated in the ceiling area of poultry houses.
Unfortunately, flies develop in large numbers in livestock areas, such as poultry manure under caged hens. This is a serious problem requiring control. The control of Musca domestica is vital to human health and comfort in many areas of the world. The most important damage related with this insect is the annoyance and the indirect damage produced by the potential transmission of various pathogens associated therewith.
Various methods have been developed to control the fly. The most common control measures involves the use of traps and insecticides. Fly bait stations can be useful in some fly control programs if enough bait stations are used, and if they are placed correctly. The control of this insect is by the application of adulticides, larvicides, or combinations thereof to directly or indirectly suppress adult densities.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,774, which issued to Warner on Aug. 24, 1993, discloses an container for holding granular insecticide. As described therein, the central chamber has a narrow rectangular cross-sectional area. A multiplicity of rectangular slots are formed in rows and columns in the chamber to provide the insect access to the insecticide. The slots are so dimensioned as to contain the granular insecticide and still permit access to the feeding parts of the insect. However, the design is limited in that it is only useful for granulated formulations of insecticide.
House flies are attracted to white surfaces and to baits that give off odors. Moreover, they preferably rest on sunny surfaces such as a surface edge in the daytime, and tend to come inside buildings or under eaves to roost at night. In view of the tremendous nuisance of flying insects in and around livestock, an insect bait station is needed that is simple, easy to use and that maximize the number of edges that an insect can rest. The present invention fulfills these and other needs.